The controversial Zambian Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo has decided to leave his Korean wife and return to the fold of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican announced yesterday.
"I once again, at this time, dedicate my life to the Catholic church with all my heart. I renounce my life with Maria Sung and my links with the Reverend Moon," Archbishop Milongo said in a letter to Pope John Paul II.
Referring to the pope as the "representative of Jesus on earth, head of the Catholic church," Archbishop Milingo said: "I am his humble and faithful servant." The letter, written in Italian, was dated August 11th, but was only made public by the Holy See yesterday, apparently prompted by the media campaign launched by Archbishop Milingo's wife.
The 71-year-old Catholic clergyman married Dr Maria Sung (43) at a South Korean Unification Church mass wedding ceremony officiated by Rev Sun Myung Moon in New York on May 27th.
The Vatican - which forbids priests from marrying - gave Milingo until August 20th to renounce his marriage or face sanctions, widely interpreted to mean excommunication.
That deadline was withdrawn last week after Milingo met Pope John Paul II at his Castelgandolfo summer residence for face-to-face talks about the marriage. Dr Sung reacted to the release of the letter by saying she believed her husband was "drugged" and "held prisoner" by the Vatican. She vowed to press ahead with a hunger strike begun earlier in the day.
"Even if Milingo telephoned me and told me with his own voice 'I am leaving you', I would not believe it because everything that has come out of the Vatican until now are just lies," Dr Sung said.
She said the Catholic hierarchy "can make him say anything they want." Sung announced earlier yesterday she would starve herself to death unless the Vatican allowed her to see her husband.
"I will keep up this hunger strike until Milingo is free to meet me or until I die," she told reporters, saying she loved him "with all my heart".
Archbishop Milingo has not been seen in public since his visit to Castelgandolfo, and Dr Sung says he is being held at the Vatican against his wishes.
On Monday, a Vatican delegation delivered a letter to Dr Sung from her husband but she refused to accept it.
The Italian daily La Repubblica reported Milingo told Dr Sung in the letter he regretted the marriage.
The paper published an excerpt which read: "I pray to you, try to understand me. In my marriage to you I did something I should not have done because of my vow of celibacy, as a priest and a bishop, which links me to God and the Church before the ceremony of May 27th ... a link I cannot break." But Dr Sung dismissed the letter.
"I have no confidence in any letter. I want to meet my husband. I want to speak to him personally," she said. "I am ready to give my life to protect him. I want to be free to meet my husband face to face."
After becoming a priest at the age of 28, Milingo was nominated archbishop of Lusaka at 39, a post he held for 14 years before falling out with the Vatican.